The news came this week that Little Chef (or what’s left of it) has been sold to Kuwait based Kout Food Group for £15 million (around £5 million more than the current owners paid for it 9 years ago) with the intention of keeping the brand alive.
This is an interesting one as most informed observers thought that any value the brand might have was in its sites and that anyone buying the business would look to use the sites for something else (I have seen a couple of LC sites turned into Starbucks) as the real estate of the remaining 80 odd sites is worth having.
What they do with the brand in order to keep it fresh and relevant to today’s rather more sophisticated consumer will be interesting to see. The new owners have spoken about traditional British values with a focus on provenance. I would probably go further and (as difficult as this may be) have each outlet celebrate local, regional produce and have its menu slightly influenced by local tastes – but what do I know!
In any case, I wish them well as LC is an iconic British brand along the lines of Harry Ramsdens and it deserves to survive.
random outpourings 